Danut Sandu holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Finance and Accounting, specialising in Banking, from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) in Romania.
He began his professional career at the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, where, as Chief Dealer and later as Director, he was responsible for the day-to-day management of the country’s foreign exchange reserves and the conduct of open market operations, and was a Member of the Central Bank’s Task Force on opening Romania’s capital markets to international capital markets.
As his career progressed, he increasingly established himself as a top expert and equally top-level executive in the international financial sector. For example, he was Chief Dealer on the founding team at Citibank Romania in Bucharest, where he was jointly responsible for establishing Citibank’s operational infrastructure in Romania and was a Member of the EMEA regional team for treasurey & capital markets. During his time at Citibank, he went on to become the youngest Country Treasurer & Member of the Board in Romania, then Managing Director & Member of the Citi-BHW merger task force during the merger of Citibank with Bank Handlowy w Warszawie (BHW) in Warsaw/Poland, and finally Head of Commercial Banking & Member of the Board of Directors at Citibank Romania.
In further professional roles, he served as Deputy CEO & Member of the Board of Directors at Millennium Bank Romania/Millennium BCP Group in Bucharest, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Management Board at MKB Nextebank Romania, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Management Board at Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania S.A./Intesa Sanpaolo Group in Bucharest, as well as General Manager & Chairman of the Management Board at Banca de Investiții și Dezvoltare in Bucharest, a greenfield investment by the Romanian government,
Danut Sandu has also held Board mandates at Transelectrica S.A. (national electricity grid) and CFR S.A. (national railway infrastructure), was a Member of the Romanian Banking Association Board, and is a Member of the Supervisory Board at Zondacrypto Exchange in Estonia, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the EU.
With over 25 years of extensive specialist and leadership experience up to the highest levels in the Romanian and Central & Eastern European banking sectors, he has an impressive track record in the areas of foreign exchange reserves & open market operations, treasury & international capital markets, liquidity & balance sheet management, corporate & commercial banking, cross-selling of non-lending products, right through to end-to-end M&A transactions and integrations, such as the merger of Veneto Banca Romania and First Bank Romania with Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania. He combines strategic clarity with strong operational execution skills.
Danut Sandu is your top Expert in the fields of Board & Strategy Management, Turnarounds, M&A, Transformations, Governance & Risk Management, Finance, as well as Operations & Processes, especially in the Banking & Financial Services sector.
Master of Science (MSc) in Finance & Accounting, specialising in Banking, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE), Romania
- Board & Strategy Management (turnarounds, M&A, post-merger integration, strategic transformation, greenfield investments, etc.)
- Governance & Risk Management (credit risk, regulatory & government affairs, compliance frameworks, etc.)
- Business Development
- Finance & Controlling (P&L management, treasury & capital markets, NPL resolution, etc.)
- Operations & Process Management
- Particularly in the Banking & Financial Services sector
- Member of the Supervisory Board at Zondacrypto Exchange in Estonia, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the EU.
- General Manager & Chairman of the Management Board at Banca de Investiții şi Dezvoltare/Investment & Development Bank (BID) in Bucharest, a state-owned greenfield investment, with particular responsibility for overseeing the areas of strategy, corporate governance, risk, treasury, lending, operations, IT & HR.
- Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Management Board at Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania S.A./Intesa Sanpaolo Group in Bucharest, with particular responsibility for overseeing the full merger & integration of Veneto Banca Romania and First Bank Romania, as well as driving forward comprehensive operational & digital transformations.
- Senior Partner at DS Quest – a management consultancy & investment banking firm specialising in Romania and Central & Eastern Europe – in Bucharest, with particular responsibility for leading buy-side advisory projects and advising on financing facilities.
- Management Board Member in charge of Retail Banking at Volksbank Romania in Bucharest, with particular responsibility for retail banking, the reorganisation of the branch network & product mix, as well as identifying & attracting a new investor.
- Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Management Board at MKB Nextebank Romania in Bucharest, responsible in particular for the bank’s restructuring, the split into “good bank”/“bad bank”, the first successful sale of an NPL portfolio on the Romanian market, as well as the sale to a new shareholder.
- Deputy CEO & Member of the Board of Directors at Millennium Bank Romania/Millennium BCP Group in Bucharest, as the first employee responsible for setting up a bank from scratch, as well as heading up the consumer, corporate & treasury business units.
- Head of Commercial Banking & Member of the Board of Directors at Citibank Romania in Bucharest, with particular responsibility for developing the institutional banking business in Romania, commercial banking offerings, as well as the cross-selling of non-lending products.
- Managing Director & Consumer Banking Treasurer at BHW – Bank Handlowy w Warszawie/Citibank Poland in Warsaw; as a member of the Citi-BHW Merger Task Force, jointly responsible for the merger of Citibank and BHW, responsible for BHW’s liquidity & balance sheet management, member of the management board for the private client business, introduction of new treasury products for the private & consumer banking segments.
- Country Treasurer & Member of the Board at Citibank Romania in Bucharest; the youngest Country Treasurer at Citi Europe, with particular responsibility for leading the treasury & capital markets business for Romania & Bulgaria.
- Chief Dealer (Founding Team) at Citibank Romania in Bucharest, jointly responsible in particular for establishing Citibank’s operational infrastructure in Romania, setting up the treasury, capital markets & consumer banking divisions; member of the EMEA regional team for treasury & capital markets.
- Director at the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, with particular responsibility for leading the teams responsible for foreign exchange reserves & open market operations, overseeing the development of modern middle- & back-office processes & teams, acting as the central bank’s liaison officer to the Ministry of Finance, as well as further opening up Romania to international capital markets.
- Chief Dealer at the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, with particular responsibility for the day-to-day management of the country’s foreign exchange reserves and the conduct of open market operations, drafting & implementing regulations for the money & foreign exchange markets, contributing to the development of a securities & stock exchange act as well as a primary & secondary market for government securities, member of the Central Bank’s task force on opening Romania’s capital markets to international capital markets.
History, politics, and a keen sports fan with a passion for tennis, handball, basketball and football.
